The invention relates, in general, to clinical patient tables or support systems, and more particularly to a patient examination support system, which has an examination table or tabletop that is adjustable in vertical and in longitudinal directions, and in which a treatment or diagnosis area is spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of the examination table from a lifting device that supports the examination tabletop.
Such patient examination support systems are known, for instance, from German Patent Disclosure DE 199 20 008 A1, as a part of a surgical diagnosis system, from U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,296, or from European Patent Disclosure EP 0 151 910.
In a computed tomography or angiography examination, the patient is typically on an examination tabletop which protrudes past a supporting load-bearing structure, in particular a lifting structure, and is adjustable in the longitudinal direction. A weight of the patient may cause a slight sagging of the examination tabletop, which may hinder or reduce the accuracy of an imaging process that may be specifically required in conjunction with radiation therapy procedures.
Reinforcing the examination tabletop, particularly in an X-ray system, may additionally affect a beam path in the examination area and thus once again impair a quality of the imaging process. Another possible way of increasing stability of the examination tabletop could be an altered distribution of mass, for instance in the form of a profile section or hollow struts of the examination tabletop. Such altered and uneven mass distribution within the examination table, however, would increase a risk of artifacts in the imaging process, particularly in computed tomography (CT).